Which Technology Could You NOT Live Without?

The local newspaper here ran a poll question: Which technology could you NOT live without? The results were:


TV 42.5%
Internet 37.0%
Radio 11.0%
iPod 3.2%
Cellphone 6.2%


There was no hesitation on my part; I voted Internet. But it looks like there are still a lot of TV junkies out there....

I would vote Internet, with TV a close second. I only listen to NPR in my car occassionally. I could do without it. I do, in fact, live completely without the other 2. And quite happily and easily.

Internet, Computer, and TV. I couldn't live without those.

It used to be that I used the TV for my source of news. Not any more, now the news is reported much quicker and more thoroughly via the Internet.

I still watch the TV for the Weather Babes, tho.

Radio is my constant companion when away from the house. And by that, I mean AM radio, not music.

toilet
refrigerator
computer
cell phone
microwave
HDL
Automobile
Broadband
Modern Medicine
HVAC

food
water
clothes

Believe me, you CAN live without hardly any tech whatsoever.


I would put gunpowder though, since I'm not very proficent with a bow, and I need to eat to live.

I'd have to vote for running water and electricity. Those seem kinda' essential.

There was no hesitation on my part; I voted Internet. But it looks like there are still a lot of TV junkies out there....

I didn't know people still watched TV. I was thinking that by now, most people are starting to forget that evil contraption for good, because internet is so much more than TV could ever be.

But I guess not.. it's quite shocking to me, how many here not only included TV in their answers (come on, would you actually DIE (=not being able to LIVE without) if you stopped watching the idiot box?)..

I mean, why would anyone even want to watch TV in modern times? Sure, I can understand that people want to watch certain tv SHOWS, but .. why watch them using that obsolete control system? Why not watch them in your own terms?

Imagine terabytes of harddrive space (easy feat nowadays, it's cheap). Imagine filling it with all your favorite movies, TV shows, music videos, concerts, musicals, plays, books, comics, music, documentaries, etc. Combine that with the almost-limitless entertainment, information flood and creative possibilities that the internet offers.

Instead of being TOLD, when you can watch, and what you can watch - you can decide everything yourself. You can always pause anything you want, whenever you want - you can even watch many things simultaneously, if you like! You can rewatch something endlessly, fast forward/rewind to an exact spot every time, without commercials or advertisements bothering you at any point, without having to watch through endless "FBI Warnings" and other crap.

All in all, being the MASTER of your "programming", your entertainment desires.

Without having to pay for anything more than the internet connection and the harddrives (and the computer, monitor(s) etc. of course).

This is of course purely a hypothetical situation...

Now answer me honestly; would you still really miss TV and want to watch it?

I think the only reason why so many people still cling to TV like some parasites to a carcass of a dead fish, is that so many people still watch TV. That becomes their topic of discussion, in this world where no one wants to talk about anything REAL.

So if they watch different shows, or at different times than their 'social network', they become outcast, because they can't be "in" the gossip and the talk anymore (especially women).

Hm, that percentage is interesting, when you start thinking about genders; could it be, that women watch TV more, and men use the internet more? Because women are yin (=passive, receiving), and men are yang (active, expanding)?

Men always want something to DO, even if it is just typing messages to an internet discussion forum. Women rather want something to gossip about, and to receive other's gossip. So internet is better for men, TV seems to suit women better - women are more readily exploitable by the media conglomerates than men. Also, men are more independent, women tend to have a hive mind, even when it comes to finding out who they like sexually (women always love a man that other women love - and reject a man that other women reject - it's called "preselection")..

In any case, TV is a "programming" device - it's designed to program people. That's why the shows are called "programs". And people still remain clueless. I do faintly remember though, when I was a TV-dependent - I felt like it's a DISASTER if I am not home in time to see some stupid TV show's this week's episode. How idiotic is that?

But it wasn't a disaster. Even if I didn't see it, I didn't die. I continued living. And actually, now that I have been free of TV "programming" for over ten years, I don't find missing it at all - on the contrary, I feel so free from all that advertising hell and the constant time restraints, the difficulties in taking a bathroom break in the middle of a show/movie, etc.. it was a miserable way to 'entertain' myself!

If you are going to entertain yourself, TV is the WORST way to go. And all that shít that you have to endure, no matter how 'clever' you try to be, just programs you to be even more miserable and stressed out human being. News constantly show you horrors and install fears in you that you wouldn't otherwise have, and convince you that you wouldn't get by if you don't get to know just how many was killed in what disaster/war/whatever.

It's unbelievable, what things people think they need .. just to LIVE.

Unbelievable.

I don't need technology to live. Technology is convenience, possibilities and entertainment. It's not "essential" per se.

Stupid charlimit.

To continue:

I don't need technology to live.

Food, water, clothing, shelter - those are essential for life (if you miss even one of those, your likelihood to die 'prematurely' rises quickly).

A safe and warm enough place to sleep is also pretty essential.

Toilet/washing facilities (fully equipped, including toilet paper), stoves, faucets, sinks, furniture - very useful conveniences. Rise the quality and healthiness of life. They are very convenient, and help avoid misery a lot - but you don't need them to live.

Cleaning appliances, utilities, tools, substances - help keep everything more hygienic = healthy. But not essential for simply living. Of course, living in filth might result in diseases and death, so this is debatable, I suppose.

But can this be called technology? Isn't it more like housing/mechanics/life's true essentials?

I would imagine living in some kind of misery and pain for most of the time, if I didn't have a computer (or few), internet connection, a couple of monitors, sound system for the computer, with headphones, etc.

I don't need cell phone, I don't need TV (I haven't had one for 10 years, except as a second monitor for oldskool gameplaying, video watching, etc.) And neither does anyone else - why they would think so, is pretty shocking, and hard to understand.

So, apart from the 'essentials' and the 'conveniences' (there are plenty of homeless people, and they are alive, so obviously even an apartment is not essential for life), the only technology that I'd rather like to have around is computers, connected to the internet - and perhaps some fans for the sweaty summer days and nights.

Aside from computer equipment (after the essentials and conveniences), I don't think I really feel a 'need' for any technology. An mp3 player is a nice thing to have when being 'in the world' amidst the two-legged half-animals of this planet - but I could very well live without that.

Most technology is just luxury, it's not essential or always even necessary. Computer, internet, and devices that utilize them are obviously good for many purposes, from creation to research, communication and entertainment, but life would go on without those things (and I have lived without them).

But that someone would think that they could not LIVE without a TV... that's some serious brainwashing, right there.

For me the question is what would be harder to lose.
I'd say my gaming console.
I could lose my phone and actually be happier for it.

That being said losing a car or the ability to cook things would be rather detrimental.